A centerpiece of the fundraising campaign for the new machines was an event called "Ballots and Beer," hosted at the historic local Colonial Theatre earlier this year.

Bethlehem Reimagined on Facebook

In about half of New Hampshire polling places, votes are still tallied up by hand. And that was the case in Bethlehem until Tuesday night — when a new ballot counting device made its debut, thanks to a community fundraising campaign.

A group called Bethlehem Reimagined led the push for the new machines. Paul Greenlaw, the group’s president, said the idea stemmed in part from his own experience as a first-time ballot counter during March's town elections.

"I left at 2:15 in the morning, and they finished up around 4,” Greenlaw said. “We just thought, in this day and age, there's a better way."

Representatives from Bethlehem Reimagined made their first formal pitch asking the town’s select board for permission to fundraise for the new machines in April, citing “difficulties with counting” in recent elections.

At that meeting, some raised questions about the machines’ accuracy and security, while others questioned whether shifting away from hand counting would mean shifting away from an electoral tradition that brought community members together.

But by the end of the meeting, the select board gave Bethlehem Reimagined the greenlight to move forward.

A centerpiece of the campaign was a fundraiser called "Ballots and Beer,” hosted at the historic local Colonial Theatre in July. The event — which featured local brews and appetizers donated by nearby restaurants — raised $4,200.

While it used to take several dozen pollworkers working late into the night to add up all the votes, far fewer volunteers were needed on Tuesday — and results were ready by 10 p.m. Town Clerk Mary Jackson said she was thankful to everyone who pulled together to make sure the new process ran smoothly.

“We miss our hand counters, but we understand that we’ve moved away from that now,” Jackson said.

While voters chose to reelect Gov. Chris Sununu on Tuesday, they also voted to put both chambers of the state Legislature and the Executive Council in the hands of Democrats, reversing the State House's current balance of power. These changes will test the governor, which he acknowledged during his victory speech.

Tuesday's election results handed Democrats control of both chambers of the New Hampshire Legislature for the first time in nearly a decade. With Republican Gov. Chris Sununu winning a second term, the stage is set for divided government in Concord for the next two years.

In the Senate, Democrats overcame an unfavorable map to flip several Republican-held seats and take a 14-10 majority.